Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team Blue
by PockyNerd
Summary: Linda used to be a human but when she wakes up one morning she's a bulbasaur with a small case of amnesia. In Tiny Woods she meets her friends Char and Squirt and create Rescue Team Blue. The trio's friendship is put to the test as they uncover the truth to not only Linda's past but their rival's past too. Based on: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue rescue team
1. New Friends

A chill went through the air, grazing my back. It felt nice. Whatever was under me was soft. It didn't feel like my mattress but I don't think anything of it. The breeze suddenly gets colder. Did someone leave my window open again?

"Hey wake up!"

Who's calling for me? I didn't recognize the voice.

"Wake up!" Whoever it is tried to roll me over with some success. I finally opened my eyes a little. A round blue head and big sparkly eyes stare into mine. I jump away, trying to stand on my back two feet only to fall on my side with an 'oof'. The orange dragon behind the turtle laughed. "Nice going, Squirt."

"Shut up! I didn't think he…or I mean she'd freak out like that!"

I stared at the two. This must be a dream. Pokémon can't talk…at least, none that I know of. I stood, a small dizzy spell coming over me as I made my way toward a small stream. Maybe if I put some cool water to my face I'll wake up. I have to wake up. I look down at the water, my eyes only half open, and a green face stared up at me. My eyes got bigger and I don't know what to do but scream. My heart raced slightly. How did this happen? Why am I a Pokémon? Why don't I remember anything? What happened? Can I change back? Is this a dream? It has to be a dream! I backed up into a tree.

"What's wrong, Bulbasaur?" Charmander asks.

"I'm not bulbasaur!" I screamed at him.

"Alright, alright. Then what's your name?"

"My name? Oh right. My name is Linda."

"Well, Linda, I'm Char, and this is Squirt." Char pat his friend on his shell.

Squirt got a little closer, staring into my eyes. "What's got you so freaked out?"

I looked at the water then back at squirt. Well, this must be a dream. It shouldn't hurt to play along right? "N-nothing."

Squirt pointed at me accusingly. "Liar!"

"I am not lying!"

"Yes you are! I can smell liars from a mile away!" He pressed my nose and I bit him. He yelled and jerked his hand away. Char laughed so hard he fell to the ground. "Shut up!" We yelled in unison.

"Help! Help!" Everyone stopped yelling and looked at a butterfree coming our way. "Please, help me!" She stopped in front of us.

"What is it?" Squirt's face changed suddenly from playful to serious. It took everything Char had to not laugh.

"I-I was attacked by some wild Pokémon. They must be enraged by the natural disasters. I flew and, and I flew but I think my baby was left behind. Oh please! You have to help him!"

"Don't worry, we'll get him." Squirt comforted.

Char looked at me. "You'll help, won't you?"

I hesitated but nodded.

"I'll stay here with her. You two go on ahead."

Char looked like he wanted to argue. I went on ahead and he soon followed.

"So what's this place called again?" I asked Char.

"Tiny Woods. And it lives by its name; this is the smallest forest in the world. And there are ton of small Pokémon here." The forest was so thick I wouldn't have guessed it was small. "

H-help!" Someone cried. "Please!"

"Did you hear that?" I looked at Char.

"No, all I heard was the sound of the wind."

I growled. "Be serious!"

"It was a dumb question!"

"It was not!" I started to walk toward the cry.

"It so was, Bulbasaur!"

"Shut up!" A small head poked out from a bush.

"A-are you here for me?" It was a small caterpie.

I walked toward him with a small smile to comfort him. "Yeah. Your mama's worried about you."

Caterpie came out from the bush, his eyes still teary. "O-okay." Immediately he climbed up on Chars back.

"Hey, hey, hey! Why can't you carry him?"

I walked past him. "Because he likes you better." Something growled from the trees and we stopped.

"You heard that growl too, right? It sounded big."

I nodded and we look around in the trees. Red eyes poke out from every direction. We were surrounded. Char set caterpie down and got ready for a fight. The first one to come out from the trees is a sparrow. He pecked my head. My head rang from the attack and I tackled him. A pidgy attacked Char who scratched at it desperately. Bird-type Pokémon attacked us from all sides.

"Ready to run now?" I asked him.

"A little." He picked up the caterpie and we sprinted out toward butterfree. By the time we got back to her and Squirt we were out of breath.

"Oh, my baby!" Butterfree hugged Char, ignoring me. "Thank you for saving my baby! Let me give you something in return."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." I chimed in.

"Hold it, now, lets let the lady thank us."

Squirt rolled his eyes at his fiery friend.

Butterfree held out an oran berry. "Take this. It isn't much but it'll help if you're ever in danger."

"Thanks, lady." Char smiled genuinely.

I looked at Caterpie who is looking at me with eyes sparkling. "You guys are cool! I'm gonna be just like you when I grow up." My face gets hot with slight embarrassment. We watched them walk away.

"You were great out there." Char admitted.

"We ran away, that isn't that good."

"Still, you weren't bad. I have an idea. Why don't we all start a rescue team? Squirt and I were gonna start one anyway but you can join us if you'd like."

"I'd like to but…I don't even know what a rescue team is."

Squirt gave me a funny look. "You are a strange Pokémon aren't you? A rescue team rescues Pokémon and does…well other jobs and we get money or berries or other things from others as a reward."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." _And maybe I'll figure out what happened to me along the way…but I really should tell them what I am. But they'd probably laugh at me._ I followed them home. Their home has two separate areas, one area is mainly water based and the other is fireproof based.

Char looked at me. "We'll build you your own room eventually. But until then, you can share an area with me."

I hesitated and looked at the water-based area then at an empty area to the left of the fireproof area. "Or maybe I could just sleep outside. I'll figure something out." Char and Squirt shrugged and headed to their separate areas, waving at each other. I walked to the empty area on the other side of the fireproof area and laid under a tree and fell asleep._ I guess this is a start of a new adventure._


	2. Town Square

_ I was running through a grassy field, filled with daisies and lilies and lilacs. A rainbow rested near a river, which bubbled quietly to itself. I thought I was the only one but in the distance stood a snowy mountain and a Pokémon stood in front of the mountain._

_ "Hello?" I called. "Are you okay?"_

_ The Pokémon doesn't answer. She simply walked away._

_ "Wait! Come back!" I started running toward it but I can't seem to reach the mountain. The farther I ran toward it the farther it got._

I awoke to the sound of Char snoring in front of the mailbox. Squirt laughed as he walked toward me.

"What's he doing?" I asked, still groggy.

"He was so excited he couldn't sleep. He must be waiting for our starter kit."

I stretched as I stood. Surprisingly, the ground was comfortable.

There was a _flap, flap _sound. A peliper landed on the mailbox and popped something in the mailbox then flew off without a word.

"They aren't really talkative are they?"

Squirt shook his head. "Not really. They just focus on delivering the mail." He headed toward the mailbox, carefully stepping around Char, and pulled a box from the mailbox. He opened it.

I walked to Squirt.

Squirt threw a scarf at Char and looked at me. "Well you probably don't need a Pecha Scarf," he mulled aloud. "But it's still pretty stylish." He helped put it on anyway and on the front is a white badge. "Wonder what Char put our team name as."

As if he sensed his name being said, Char woke up. "What?" He jumped seeing the box in Squirts hand. "Is that our starter kit? When did it get here? And why didn't you wake me?!"

Squirt put on his pecha scarf as he said, "You didn't get any sleep so I let you sleep. So what's are team name?"

Char started to go through the starter kit, not that there was a lot to go threw by this point. "We are officially Rescue Team Blue!"

I looked at him. "Blue? Why blue?"

Char shrugged. His scarf looked bright against his orange body. "I couldn't think of anything else. And blue is my favorite color. How do I look?" He twirled a few times.

I laughed. "You look good, Char."

He grinned and gave me a thumb up in a little-kid way, "Yeah I do! When am I not stylish?"

"When you're up against a pokémon bigger than you." Squirt said hotly. "How do I look, Linda?"

"You guys look fine." They were worse than girls. "I don't think looks matter on missions. We're going to dirty up everything in the end so what's it matter how we look?"

They gave me surprised expressions, the type of expression to give someone who hasn't heard of a popular movie or song. It's the type of expression that made me want to punch them…if I had a fist I probably would.

"Looks are just as important as your team background. Take Charizard, for example, he maintains his tough appearance with that gold team badge of his. I mean, who would hire him if he looked all dirty or grimy?"

"Who's Charizard?"

They gave me the same expression. I glared at him. Suddenly a vine appeared from what seemed to be behind me and slapped him for me.

Squirt's expression changed to a true surprised expression. "You didn't have to hit him."

I was just as surprised as he was. "I didn't mean to…" I admitted.

Char rubbed his face. "Yeah, sure you didn't." He walked off without saying anything more. Squirt and I followed closed behind.

The dirt road soon turned to stone as we entered a plaza. "Welcome to Pokémon square!" Squirt announced cheerily. He didn't pay any mind to Char walking away without us. "This is where you can store money, store items we may pick up during our missions and buy things. Well, I guess that was kind of obvious by how everything looked." He grinned. "Feel free to go converse. We'll meet up back at our headquarters." He walked away.

I looked around. Who would I talk to? Everyone seemed to be in their own little groups of three. Four Pokémon in a group would be too much. Everyone talked too low for anyone to eavesdrop. I made up their conversations by the expressions they made. Doing this felt familiar. Except the setting would be different, I would imagine. _I'd be human for starters._

Finally, I walked back to the house, humming softly along the way for entertainment.

Under my feet was soft, solid dirt that suddenly moved. It knocked me off my feet and into other traveling pokémon. The earthquake lasted no more than a minute and just went away.

Pokémon around me started getting up, dusting themselves off and went on their way. I did the same and turned to the pokémon I ran into. "Sorry about that."

The magnate-looking pokémon shook the dirt off of himself. If he had a mouth he would have smiled at me as he spoke, "It's fine. The earthquakes have been getting worse. Soon nobody will stay on their feet."

I looked below him, puzzled. How does this pokémon stay up? I decided not to bring it up. "Are you going into town?"

"Yes, I'm going to the peliper post office."

"I didn't see that in the square."

"That's because it's not inside the square…It's more on the outside of it."

"Oh…" I suddenly felt stupid.

"Hey Linda!" Char's voice echoed from the Town Square. The Magnimite went on his way. "Did you feel that earthquake?"

"Yeah. It was bigger than the one from yesterday."

"Do you know what this means?" I opened my mouth to answer but Squirt interrupted me. "This means more pokémon in trouble! Which means we can go rescue them all!"

"I think you have your sights set too high, Squirt. But you do have a point. There will be more job opportunities for us." _Which means a more likely chance that I'll meet someone who knows what's going on. _

We slowly headed home.


	3. Team Meanies and Gengar's Dream Eater!

_I was standing on a grassy field. Green all around me, even the sky looked green! It must be a meadow. The daisies tickled my nose. The silhouette stood a little closer now. It was almost close enough to make out the shape._

_ "…Ear…C...e…an…"_

_ "What? I can't hear you! Speak up! Who are you?"_

_ "…Ar….Au…."_

_ The silhouette walked away from me._

I woke up slowly. The breeze felt wonderful against my bulb and it made me shiver. The wind was stronger today. If we didn't get a house built for me soon I'll freeze to death. Maybe I should stay with Char. It would be warm in there.

_Flap! Flap! Flap! _

A peliper landed on the mailbox.

_Clunk! Flap! Flap! Flap!_

I walked to the mailbox and inspected the _clunk_. It was just a new badge. This was green and egg-shaped with white wings. There were three and a bag about the same size as the one we got last time.

I set everything in front of Char and Squirt's porches. It was still too early to wake them.

"L-Linda?"

I turned. Caterpie looked scared and…sad. He was crying.

"What is it?" I knelt to his eye-level.

"M…My friend Metapod wandered into the forest and he hasn't come back. I've searched and searched and I can't find him!" Caterpie broke down in a sob.

He needed comfort. He wanted me to find him.

"But I have no money to give you." He finally finished.

A cackle came from behind him. "Is that so? Well that's no problem for us." Gengar approached with Medicham and Ekans.

I frowned. "Who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of us!" Medicham didn't sound the least bit sorry. "We are Team Meanies."

"We have only one goal. World Domination."

"And a twerp like you won't stand in our way!" Gengar claimed.

"Is that so?" The commotion must have woken Squirt and Char.

"Caterpie came to Linda! Not to you three. So why don't you go home." Char waved his hand in a 'shoo' motion.

Gengar kneeled near Caterpie and put his arm around the little caterpillar before he could back away. "Listen kid, these idiots will just fail, fail and fail again. However with Team Meanies not only can you join us but I'm sure Metapod's mommy will love us so much she'll pay us for you. What do you say?"

I glared. Poor Caterpie looked so scared.

"Great!" Gengar yelled as if Caterpie had answered. "Then it's settled! Lets go find metapod!" He walked away with his team.

I frowned as I watched them. Caterpie looked up at me with pleading eyes. "We'll get metapod before them. I promise."

Caterpie's eyes lit up. "Really? That's great!"

The forest was mostly dark. The only real light besides the sunlight that peaked from the awnings of leaves was the light from Char's tail. Char's tail has come in handy on more than one occasion.

_Could they help if they found out I was human too? They're bound to find out sometime…_

"Hey, Char."

He looked at me.

His eyes were deep and blue and full of sarcastic comments. I could only imagine what he would say if I told him. "Can I sleep in your house tonight? It's getting cold outside."

He smiled. "Yeah sure."

I sighed, disappointed that I couldn't bring myself to tell him my secret. They would believe me…wouldn't they?

From the corner of my eye I saw a snake's tail disappear behind a tree. "Hey guys!" I nodded toward the tree. "I think I saw Ekans."

We ran toward where I saw the tail disappear to investigate. Team Meanies were surrounding something small. It looked like a green rock. "I bet that's Metapod." Char whispered.

Was Metapod scared too? It looked more like they were ganging up on him.

I stepped out from the trees. "Hey, Gengar!" As Gengar turned to investigate I shot a seed at him. It was some form of instinct that told me to tilt my bulb up slightly to hit him right between the eyes.

Gengar rubbed his forehead. "You'll regret that, Brat!" His eyes changed somehow. It made my eyes heavy. I tried not to fall under the hypnosis but I couldn't help it, it was like he put weights on my eyes.

_This dream was different from the others. Squirt, Char, and I all ran toward something shining in a dark cave. There was a waterfall at the end and a bunch of firefly pokémon flew around a fountain._

_ Everything turned dark. "Char? Squirt?" I looked around me. The cave was empty of all life and I got no answer. "Guys?"_

_ Suddenly Char appeared, his back to me, he appeared to be laughing. "She's so weak! It's ridiculous!"_

_ Squirt was positioned the same way, but at a slight angle. "I know! She couldn't even avoid his obvious hypnosis!"_

_ There was a stabbing pain in my chest. "I didn't know! I didn't see the signs! I'm not a pokémon like you guys! I'm a human!"_

_ There were more laughs. "Yeah right!" It was Gengar's voice._

_ I ignored it. "Guys! Listen to me!" I screamed at them._

_ Everything shattered into a brilliant white light and I fell back into my green meadow._

I woke up just as Caterpie headbutted me. I groaned, "What was that for?"

"You were having a nightmare," Caterpie explained. "I just wanted you to wake up. You were muttering strange things about Humans."

Heat flooded to my face. "I…did?"

"Yeah," Char pat my bulb. "What were you dreaming about?"

I looked at him and Squirt then at Caterpie and Metapod then at the sky. "You two boys better head on home. Don't get into any more trouble now."

They nodded and took off home before it could get dark.

I turned to Squirt and Char. "I just…had a nightmare." I lied.

"Liar!" Squirt pointed accusingly. "It wasn't just a nightmare! Something's eating at you!"

I nodded. "Yeah….But I don't have all of the answers so how can I explain so that you believe me."

"Aren't we friends, Linda? We'll believe you, we promise."

These two boys were so curious but how could I know for sure? I explained to them all I knew.


	4. Gold Rank Rescue Team: Team ACT!

I had expected them to laugh at me when I finished but they just sat and stared wide-eyed at me. I began to worry that maybe they didn't believe me.

"Well…say something…"

"Like what, Linda? It's a big piece of information to take in." Char still looked like he was trying to process the information.

"I don't know. Maybe something like if you believe me or not."

Squirt's expression changed to mock horror but changed again when I didn't laugh. "Of course we believe you. Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

I shrugged. Why didn't I tell them in the beginning? "I thought you wouldn't believe me." I whispered mainly to myself. "I don't remember anything about how I got here. The only thing I remembered was my name and that I'm not a pokémon."

The two boys grinned and put their arms around me. "We'll help you find out! But until then I think we should keep this just between the three of us. We wouldn't want something this crazy harming our reputation. And who knows, maybe we'll get missions that'll point us to why you're here."

I smiled at them and had no objections about keeping my secret.

That night I decided to sleep under my little tree for another few nights until it got colder. There wasn't a breeze and I didn't dream my strange dream. I woke up feeling refreshed and not as worried as I would usually be. Maybe that was because I finally told Char and Squirt what was on my mind.

Immediately after they awoke, the two pokémon ran to check the mailbox.

"It's just going to be empty!" I called to them from my little tree. The trees leaves were starting to turn brown and gold. Fall was here so soon after my arrival. "I didn't hear Peliper this morning."

"You were also out cold last night." Squirt held up a letter. "Got it first!"

I stared at him in surprise. We just checked the mail! There's no way we could've gotten more so quickly. "Well what does it say?" I looked over his shoulder as soon as I got to him.

"It says; our friend Magnimite and Magnimite were fused together in Thunder-Wave cave. Nobody can get them apart. Help them! From Magnimite…"

I couldn't help but think the name Magnimite was really redundant. Char's face lit up with excitement. Squirt's face was anything but excitement. I wouldn't blame him since he's a water type.

"Lets go immediately!" Char announced and took off.

As we followed, I whispered to Squirt, "You'll be fine. If anything happens Char and I will be there to assist you."

Squirt shrugged, doubt still crossed his face.

We came to the cave and entered one by one, with Squirt behind us. It didn't appear as though thunder actually appeared. "Why is it called Thunderwave cave?"

"Because of all the electric-type pokémon in here."

I looked back at Squirt. He was overly alert and seemed to jump at every little thing. It looked as if his settled on my face. He pointed past me. "There they are!"

Me and Char looked ahead and sure enough, there were the Magnimite, stuck together like the letter said.

Char ran over and stood in front of one of the Magnimite. "We're here to get you separated."

A happy buzzing sound came from the two. Squirt refused to get near them leaving only Char and I to break them apart.

"Thank you for getting us unstuck. Unfortunately we can only give you an Oran Berry."

Char took it happily, though I suspect he was only acting for their sake. "This is just fine."

As we went on our way Char sighed. "Though I wish we could've gotten more."

Squirt laughed. He was back to his cheery self now that we were away from electric-type pokémon.

"We need a few things from Pokémon Square," Char announced as we approached our home. He distributed some poké to each of us. "Especially Oran Berries."

I tilted my head to one side, puzzled. "Where did all of our oran berries go? I though we still had plenty."

"We have to eat something for breakfast, don't we?"

He had a point. _I guess that's what pokémon eat for meals, berries they can find. What did I eat as a human? Berries…the word sounds familiar. Maybe I ate berries too…_ I finally snapped out of my thoughts and headed with my team to the square.

All of the shops were strangely empty. Where did everyone run off to? Squirt and Char looked just as confused as I felt.

"Hey you kids!" A lombre waved us over.

"What's going on?" Squirt asked him.

Lombre pointed at the scene in front of him. I couldn't see among the crowd. "Whoa! I can't believe it!" They're voices were in awe, as if they're idol were passing through.

"Yeah, neither can I. That poor jumpluff." Lombre didn't sound so impressed. What was so impressive? Was this a rescue team with a high rank?

I couldn't take not being apart of the group anymore. I pushed through the pokémon, apologizing quietly as I did until I broke through the crowd. Shiftry's back was to me as were the nuzleaf's. A small jumpluff shook with intimidation and still pleaded.

"Please! You're the only one who can do this! And I'm giving you all the money I have to get my sister out!" From the corners of her eyes, tears threatened to spill over.

Snubbull shook his head. "I can't believe it," he whispered. It took me a long while to realize he was talking to me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Why can't you believe it?"

Snubbull rolled his eyes. "You aren't from around here, huh? Well That Shiftry and his 'Rescue Team' won't do any jobs unless they get paid royally. It makes me sick!"

"So, why doesn't anyone step in and stop this nonsense?"

"Well why don't you?"

He had a point. Why don't I step in and yell at Shiftry, give him a piece of my mind.

"Stop this!"

The voice wasn't my own. The crowd parted behind Jumpluff. Alakazam, Charizard, and Tyranitar stepped from the crowd. It was obvious who the leader of this group was.

"I can't believe it!" Snubbull shook me. "A.C.T! It's A.C.T!"

"Forgive me if I don't join you in joy." I said but Snubbull was already talking to someone else.

"What is this, Shiftry? Greed has gotten the better of you. When you were nothing but a Nuzleaf all you wanted was to help and now that help is coming to you all you can think about is money. You don't deserve to be called a rescue team. Your fans are the only thing that can produce enough wind to dislodge the Jumpluff from the rocks. Do her a favor and help the Jumpluff out for free. Or perhaps we should get another team to do it and they can take the reward."

Nuzleaf tugged at Shiftry's arm and pointed out the hostility growing amongst the crowd. Shiftry's demeanor suddenly changed but he kept his cool and aggressive attitude. "Fine. Lets go!"

"Wow, look at them run!" Snubbull pointed out. As team A.C.T walked toward us the crowd parted. Snubbull had to pull me out of the way. Everyone cheered and shouted their amazement.

I watched with just as much amazement. Alakazam nodded in 'hello' at the crowd on either side of him. He turned to the side of the crowd I was on and nodded but, unlike the rest of the crowd, his eyes met mine. We held each other's gazes. My heart sped up suddenly.

_It's like he's staring into me. It's like he can see who I really am. Can he tell that I'm human?_

Charizard put a hand on Alakazam's shoulder, which forced him to break the staring contest. The breath I didn't realize I was holding finally forced its way from my lungs.

"You okay?" He asked his friend.

Alakazam turned back to look at me. He only glanced at my face and form before he turned back to his team. "I'm fine," he lied. "Let's just go."

The crowd slowly tore itself apart as the rescue team left. Stores would be open later to make up for lost time.

Char nudged me. "So? How did it feel to be in the presence of a gold ranked rescue team?"

I smiled sheepishly at him. "Intimidating, I guess." The only problem was it didn't feel as if Alakazam had really left. I could still feel the power of his gaze. Maybe he recognized me as a new pokémon and wanted to make sure I wasn't going to cause trouble. I hoped that's all this was.

"That's the type of rescue team we plan to be! Gold rank and maybe even get to the highest rank of all: Lucario Rank! And then we'll even beat that to the point we'll have to have our own rank!"

"You have your sights set pretty high, Char."

"Aim for the stars is what we say. And if you can reach it aim a little higher."

"Aim for the stars huh?" I looked at the sky. A million stars lit up around the moon. "They're pretty high. But I know you'll be able to reach for them."

Char and Squirt grinned. How high would I have to go to reach my goal?


	5. Rescue Jumpluff

There was no strange dream, no dreams at all for the past few days. The dream suddenly didn't seem all that strange anymore. Whatever it had been was nothing but my subconscious, I guessed.

Nobody seemed worried about whether Shiftry finished his job or not. That day seemed to have slipped everyone's mind in Pokémon Square. It felt like I was the only one who remembered the strange occurrence with Alakazam.

The air was cool outside and the leaves on my tree were almost all gone. Brown, orange, and gold leaves littered the ground around it. Today I checked an empty mailbox, which left only the bulletin board.

"Um…excuse me?" The voice behind me was timid. I recognized it as Jumpluff's.

I turned to her. She looked like the same Jumpluff that begged Shiftry to take her job. There were worried tears in her eyes.

"Y-You're Linda…From Team Blue right?"

"Yeah that's me. You're the Jumpluff from Pokémon Square right?"

She nodded. "Yes. C-Can you take my job offer and go rescue my sister?"

"Well of course but didn't Shiftry take your job? What happened to him?"

"He hasn't come back. I'm worried he never went to Silent Chasm or if he did the monster there got to him." She paused to read my reaction. She quickly added, "Silent Chasm is at the base of Mount Thunder, which is where the monster lives. And with all of these natural disasters it may have woken up and gotten him."

_What kind of monster lives there? _"We'll rescue your sister."

A small smile crossed her face. "Really? Thank you!" It was nice to see her smile. The smile never disappeared even as she left. She was very confidant that we could do it. I couldn't help but wonder why she picked a Bronze rank rescue team. If there was a monster that lived at Mount Thunder why didn't she just go to ACT for help?

Shortly after Jumpluff disappeared from view Char and Squirt came from their homes, wide awake and excited about checking the mail.

"Do we have a request?" Without waiting for my answer Char checked the mailbox.

"Yes, Jumpluff wants us to go to Silent Chasm and rescue her sister."

Squirt frowned. "Didn't Shiftry already go?"

"There's a possibility Shiftry is in trouble. Apparently there's a monster or something living at the peak of Mount Thunder and sometimes it makes its way down to the chasm."

Squirt looked somewhat sick but he followed slowly to Silent Chasm.

The Chasm lived up to its name, it was indeed silent. It was steep going down. Going back up would be difficult. The rock looked grey on either side of us and it was oddly dark.

Squirt still looked pale. I gave him an oran berry with a smile. "It'll help your stomach." I explained.

He looked somewhat thankful but it was apparent he still didn't want to be at the bottom of a canyon with the possibility of something swooping down to carry us off to a peak of some mountain nearby.

Char was the first to spot Jumpluff wedged between the rocks and he ran to help.

In front of the rocks was Shiftry, lying defeated. I ran to help him while Squirt went to help Char.

Shiftry was barely conscious. "We're going to get you out, Shiftry."

He groaned. "No, don't. Go. Save yourself before he comes again."

"Before who comes again?"

Char and Squirt finally freed Jumpluff from the rocks.

Lightening flashed in the sky.

"Go! It's coming!"

But what was coming?

Something descended from the sky and landed between Shiftry and Jumpluff, Squirt, and Char. I was ready for a fight.

"Step aside, kid!" It warned. When I didn't move he flapped his wing sending a gust of wind at me. The wind knocked me off my feet and sent me crashing into a boulder.

Char ran to my aid. Squirt and Jumpluff were frozen with fear.

In its claws he picked up the unconscious Shiftry.

"Who do you think you are?" Char growled.

The bird spread his wings as if to take off. "I am Zapdos, the embodiment of lightening!"

"Why are you taking him?" I demanded.

"Why? It is because of him my home is being disturbed. He must be punished."

"Natural disasters are happening everywhere!" Char chimed. "It isn't just your home being affected!"

"Silence!" He sent a gust of wind at Char. The bird's attention turned to me. Our eyes met. He seemed to be studying me much like Alakazam did in Pokémon Square. "Hmph, I can see there is a lot of determination in you, unlike your friends behind me. I'll give you and your rescue team a chance to defeat me. If you can defeat me I'll let Shiftry go. Of course if you can't you will join Shiftry in his captivity. Join me at Mount Thunder's peak and we'll see if your determination can save your friend." Without waiting for a confirmation he flew with Shiftry in his claws.

The Jumpluff sisters were happy to see each other. They were so happy that it seemed they forgot Shiftry. After they celebrated in front of our Team Base, something that Char had suddenly started to call our home, the Jumpluff sisters left.

Squirt's pale demeanor finally left him, but fear still settled over his head. "You aren't planning on going to Mount Thunder, are you?"

"Of course we are!" Char answered for me. "We have to rescue Shiftry, even if he wasn't all that nice to Jumpluff."

"We have to beat Zapdos before something bad happens to Shiftry."

"You didn't say Zapdos, did you?" Alakazam and his team stood behind us. How much of our conversation did they hear? "Zapdos is a very powerful pokémon of lightening."

"So?" Char grinned confidently. "We're just as strong!"

Charizard laughed. "You three? You're only a Bronze Rank rescue team! You can't beat a legendary pokémon like Zapdos!"

Squirt was silent with doubt.

I spoke up instead. "Sure we can. The rank of a rescue team doesn't determine your strength."

"You three are small. Let us handle it. We're bigger and will have less of a chance to be knocked out by Zapdos's lightening attacks."

"We're faster, though. That's the advantage of me not being a Charizard yet." Char made it sound like he chose not to evolve.

Alakazam's eyes met mine again. It felt like the time in Pokémon Square again. I felt him look into my soul again but my heart didn't race. I needed to be strong for Shiftry and for Squirt. Maybe if he saw how brave I was being he'd be just as brave.

As the taunts from Tyranitar and Charizard came and bashed us, Alakazam and I didn't seem to notice. Char's comebacks sounded distant.

Finally Alakazam spoke up. "Both of our teams will make their way to the peak of Mount Thunder." His voice silence the three pokémon.

"Shiftry only wants to fight us, though." Char complained.

Alakazam knew that, though. I didn't know how but he knew and he knew that if we failed and one of us, or all three of us, were taken by Zapdos they could come and try to defeat him and save us all.

Somehow this lit a fire in my chest and I knew my team needed to be the one to defeat Zapdos. Perhaps I wanted to prove to ACT that a Bronze rank rescue team was just as strong as a Gold rescue team. Or maybe I was that determined to rescue Shiftry. Whatever the reason was, I was determined to get to the peak before ACT.


	6. Zapdos: lord of lightening

We left right away for Mount Thunder. Squirt seemed a little braver now but it was obvious that he was still uncomfortable at the thought of being stuck on the same mountain as a bunch of electric-type pokémon.

Char, on the other hand, was very confidant. Maybe a little too confident.

The lightening didn't stop striking the ground as we climbed the mountain. It struck already dead trees and electric pokémon who weren't brave enough to take us on. Squirt straggled behind so we had to stop several times to wait for him. He kept muttering to himself.

At one point halfway up the mountain lightening struck so close to him he beat us to the peak.

Char couldn't help but laugh at how fast he suddenly ran.

"That isn't funny!" Squirt yelled. It didn't make Char stop laughing.

The peak wasn't pointed like I expected, it was flat with several boulders. Shiftry was nowhere in sight and neither was Zapdos.

"Maybe he isn't home." Squirt said with half hope. "Oh well, we'll just have to let Alakazam beat him." He started to walk away but stopped when it suddenly got dark.

Zapdos descended from the sky. "I was afraid you may not come." He wasn't looking at anyone else, in fact he seemed to totally ignore Char and Squirt even as they approached. "I hope you do not regret your decision." He didn't sound sincere.

He sent a gust of wind that sent us flying back. The vines from my bulb immediately grabbed hold of a rock so I didn't topple over the edge.

While Char and Squirt struggled to recover themselves I wrapped my vine around his wing before he could attack again. What was it that I planned to do? I started to pull but it didn't affect him. He looked bored and I was suddenly shocked. The vines retreated back into the bulb.

Zapdos laughed. "Silly little pokémon!"

At some point Char ran behind Zapdos and shot embers at Zapdos. It left him burned. Before Zapdos could reacts to Char, however, Squirt jumped at Zapdos and retreated into his shell. The shell hit Zapdos. He looked annoyed.

Somewhere in the back of my mind was a whisper. It told me how to use Sleep Powder. I obeyed the instinct but it missed Zapdos. Char and Squirt tried their attacks again but he only slapped them away with his wing. Both boys went over the edge.

Zapdos turned to me. "Game over, Kid." He approached.

Everything suddenly went into slow motion. I used Sleep Powder again. Immediately he fell asleep. It bought me time to figure out my plan.

When he awoke he wasted no time using a thunderbolt attack.

I couldn't move. Was I paralyzed?

He looked annoyed and angered.

Two more attacked, a flamethrower and a water gun attack, came from behind in rapid succession and didn't stop.

Zapdos turned and sent lightening at Char and Squirt. He was becoming weak and now was my time to act. I used a Bullet Seed attack before I could even hear the voice tell me what to do.

Zapdos went down.

Char and Squirt ran and hugged me rather than checked up on me. They were laughing humorlessly.

"Did you three actually defeat Zapdos?" Tyranitar was standing, open mouthed, and staring at us.

The lightening from the sky struck Zapdos, healing him of some of his wounds.

Team ACT stood in front of us. "You want another fight? We'll take you on." Charizard challenged.

Zapdos was still heaving. "No, I'm done. Shiftry is at the bottom of the mountain on the south side." He looked at all three of us now, not just me. "You three kids impressed me. I haven't had a fight like that for some time. I hope you challenge me again soon." With that he flew off.

Charizard turned to us. "Linda, isn't it? I can't believe you took on Zapdos like that! You're awfully strong for a bulbasaur."

I didn't notice Alakazam studying me while Charizard talked. "I can sense it even more now. You aren't a pokémon. I've never felt a presence like this."

I looked at Alakazam. He knew now. "You're right, I'm not. I'm a human."

The information took Tyranitar and Charizard by surprise. "But that can't be! Humans…They're just myths!"

"I don't have any answers…I can't remember anything about why I'm here or how I got here. I just have this dream. A pokémon keeps trying to talk to me but I can't hear her."

Alakazam stood thoughtfully. "Go and make your way to the Great Canyon. Xatu stares into the sun all day to peek into the future and the past. He'll tell you everything you need to know."

He was holding back some form of information but I didn't press any farther. As we left I heard Charizard whisper, "You don't think she's _that _human do you?"

Alakazam answered, "Only Xatu knows."


	7. Xatu's prediction

_The meadow was a bright green despite the frigid air. I watched the silhouette pick at the flowers. Her face was much clearer to me now. _

_ "Who are you?" I shouted._

_ She looked at me and smiled. "Linda! I am so glad, I hope you can hear me now. I am Gardevoir…" Whatever she had to say next was lost to the world outside._

I woke in Char's home. It was overly warm but it was better than sleeping in the cold. Fall was an awkward time with cold weather in the evening but warm weather in the day.

Char and Squirt were already up and waiting for me outside. I didn't know or care if they checked the mailbox, I just wanted to see Xatu as fast as soon as I could. I stepped outside and immediately the two went quiet.

"What's going on?" It wasn't like them to keep me out of the loop.

Char struggled to find the words. This wasn't like him at all.

Squirt chimed, "Before we go you have to go see Whiscash. He's been telling everyone stories."

"Yeah? What kind of stories?"

"A story about a human…and a pokémon named Gardevoir."

The cold air suddenly grew warm. Was it a good story? I hoped it was.

"Whiscash is in his pond." Char finally said.

Whiscash's pond was North of Pokémon Square. He never moved, not that the water went anywhere else, but he received visitors often for stories and legends. When he saw me approach he grinned. "Come to hear the legend, I see?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I heard it was good."

"It is riveting. Once there was a pokémon named Gardevoir who had a human. She loved the human but the human didn't love Gardevoir and was horrible to her. One day they came across a pokémon named Ninetails. The human was foolish enough to grab her tail. 'Foolish human!' The ninetails exclaimed. 'You have touched my tail and shall be cursed until time ends.' Gardevoir bore the curse instead. Ninetails was so moved she was going to help the Gardevoir but the human abandoned her. Furious Ninetails predicted the human would be a pokémon. She also predicted the balance of the world would be upset around the same time…" Whiscash laughed. "It's such a good legend. But it's nothing more than a legend."

Still, it tugged at my chest. Did I abandon Gardevoir? Was I the selfish human?

Now I needed to see Xatu. I ran home to Char and Squirt. They were still depressed over the story. "We need to go see Xatu," I announced. "We need to see if that's why I was a human."

They looked at me, the depression left and was replaced with determination. The two pokémon wanted to know or maybe they just didn't believe it anymore.

We walked to the Great Canyon. It was big but the pokémon didn't disturb us. Most of them watched cautiously from the shadows or from the tops of the canyon. It was oddly hot for a fall day.

It took hours to get to the top of the canyon. The sun was already setting over the hills.

A pokémon stared at the sun, still as stone. Char poked him. "Excuse me? Are you Xatu?"

The pokémon didn't answer.

"Maybe he didn't hear you. HELLO!" Squirt yelled in his ear but the pokémon still didn't answer.

Char and Squirt yelled a 'hello' into both his ears but the pokémon seemed to just ignore them both.

"Maybe if we attack him? Or at least pretend."

Squirt and Char looked uncomfortable at the idea but when along with it anyways. We were poised to attack and, just as we were about to unleash it, Xatu spread his wings and screeched. It startled all of us.

"Look at it! The beauty of the sun!" He turned to us, folding his wings in front of him. "Yes, children, I am Xatu."

"Good," I said after I regained what dignity I had. I felt embarrassed for even playing with the idea of attacking him. "I needed to know something."

"I know, Linda." He turned back to the sun momentarily then turned back to us. "I can see the past and the future, I know you are human and I know you know of the history of Ninetails."

"You call it history…So is it true?" Char sounded worried.

"Yes, it's all true."

"Does that mean I'm…?" I couldn't finish, I suddenly didn't want to know.

"Linda, I do not know. But I do know that you being here means the disasters will get much worse and will inevitably bring the destruction to our world."

It didn't put my fears to rest. Not only did I have a story that may or may not apply to me but my being here also meant their world would be destroyed.

_What do I do?_


End file.
